DesignMarch for fashion lovers

DesignMarch is just around the corner but the festival will take place all over the capital region from 4th to 8th May. The program this year is versatile and exciting and boasts over 100 exhibitions and 200 events. It's safe to say that everyone should find something to their liking. 

Fashion lovers will have plenty to do during DesignMarch as the program is filled with exciting fashion exhibitions, shows, performances and parties. Here are few of those events.

Three Icelandic fashion designers, Ýr Þrastardóttir, Halldóra Sif and Sævar Markús, present a short film with new and current collections based on their common aesthetics. The pieces shown are both under development and currently available, and is the result of them linking together. The designers' collective mentality is to work with high-quality and natural fabrics, with a rich emphasis placed on patterns, high-quality finishing, and limited edition production. All products are created in the Atelier, home studios, or in collaboration with independent European producers who prioritize honest work practices and social responsibility.

The short film will be shown in Bíó Paradís, Saturday 7th May from 6:30PM to 7:30PM.

Kiosk Grandi is a collective of local fashion designers. During DesignMarch they will showcase new collections within the store. Their brands are ANITA HIRLEKAR, BAHNS, EYGLO, HELICOPTER, HLÍN REYKDAL & MAGNEA. Designers of Kiosk Grandi debut all their newest gems on friday 6th May from 5PM to 8 PM and you are invited! Summer cocktails, giftbags, DJs and all the good times we can muster. We cannot wait to show everyone what is in store for the summer!

The Norwegian designer Elisabeth Stray Pedersen is in good company with Icelandic colleagues in KIOSK GRANDI on Saturday 7th May from 3PM -5PM. Her pieces will be displayed together with Icelandic design and Elisabeth will be present. The Norwegian Embassy will offer light refreshments.

Elisabeth Stray Pedersen is also participating in Design Diplomacy X Norway along with Magnea Einarsdóttir, fashion designer and founder of the brand MAGNEA. You can register for Design Diplomacy X Norway and read more about the event here.

Farmers Market premiers new garments made from Icelandic wool fur, which is not real fur. This faux fur is developed by the Icelandic wool company Ístex, which has been a partner of Farmers Market for many years, but the wool in the faux fur is uncoloured leftover wool. A special opening party will be held at Farmer Market's store at Hólmaslóð 2, Friday May 6th from 4PM - 6 PM.

Drífa Líftóra continues exploring frenzied printmaking and colourfulness in her new hand screen printed clothing collection Nykursykur. The collection stars the folkloric bloodthirsty Nykur, a water dwelling horse with backwards facing hooves as it swims among all the broken bones of past victims. Print grading is the main focus of the collection, same as with her last collection, and that means each and every print can be added to every other print in the collection but can stand on its own as well. A special performance will take place in Gröndalshús on Thursday 5th May from 5PM - 7PM with live harp music and models.

The Icelandic fashion label Hildur Yeoman is one of the most influential fashion brands in Iceland. The label is known for dreamy and mystical prints, feminine silhouettes and for creating new adventures for each collection.

A performance will be held on Friday, 6th May from 8PM - 9 PM, at Höfuðstöðin, where IN BLOOM, the new summer collection, will be presented with a bang.

The new collection will be available at the Yeoman store on Laugavegur and onlone on DesignMarch opening day, 4th May.

Helga Björnsson lived and worked in Paris for thirty years as a haute couture designer for  Louis Féraud, and has since collaborated with several designers as well as working as an award winning costume designer for the Icelandic national theatre and opera as well as working on her own collection of silk scarves, furnishings and artwork.

Fashion performance Atelier Helga Björnsson will be held Saturday 7th May at the Culture House and starts punctually at 18:00.

Crémant offered by the French Embassy in Iceland and cocktails from Og Natura. Specially designed finger foods.

For Design March 2022, Svartbysvart is teaming up with French artist Minuit to design a series of wearable items created from fishing equipment destined for the trash, exhibited in the Svartbysvart store, Týsgata 1. Clothing, accessories and artworks intricately hand made from thousands of strands of fishing cords, nets and ropes recovered from the Icelandic shoreline, make a statement against ocean pollution, while displaying a unique way of re- purposing fishing debris and otherwise harmful objects. As fishing nets are carefully designed to catch different types of fish, Svart & Minuit want to further expand the design work and turn their uses into catching emotions and expressions of humans. An opening party will held Thursday 6th May from 6PM to 9PM.

Fatalínan „Áríðandi tilraunir á raunveruleikanum“ er frumraun Sólar Hansdóttur eftir útskrift úr Central Saint Martins. Llínan var frumsýnd á London Fashion Week í febrúar og kannar línan aðstæður til framleiðslu á nútímafatalínu, með áherslu á nýtingu auðlinda, hérlendis. Með haustlínu 2022 kannaði Sól Hansdóttir aðstæður á Íslandi til þróunar og framleiðslu á nútímafatalínu. Markmið er að efla textílþróun og framleiðslu fatnaðar á Íslandi ásamt því að nýta innlendar auðlindir. Sýningin er haldin í Ásmundarsal en sérstakt opnunarpartý fer fram miðvikudaginn 4. maí frá kl. 18:00 - 21:00. Sól verður einnig með leiðsögn um sýninguna föstudaginn 6. maí frá kl. 14:00 - 15:00. Gjörningurinn PERFORMANCE EXPERIMENTS ON REALITY fer fram laugardaginn 7. maí frá kl. 14:00 - 15:00.

Shoe label KALDA is expanding it’s product line and launching a new bag line during DesignMarch 2022. The line will consist of contemporary bags with multi-functioning details made in traditional and non-traditional materials. An opening party will be held Friday 6th May from 4PM to 6PM at KALDA SHOWROOM, Grandagarður 79.

Colorise is a new collection of scarves and garments by Morra. Morra is based in Reykjavik and was founded by fashion designer Signý Þórhallsdóttir in 2018. The label aims to make timeless yet contemporary clothing and accessories using natural fabrics and vivid prints. The Colorise collection draws inspiration from colours and hues found in the long Nordic twilight. Opening party will be held Thursday 5th May from 5PM to 7PM in Epal.

For DesignMarch 2022 AS WE GROW invites you to have your favorite AS WE GROW garments monogrammed at the brand’s new store and studio in Klapparstígur 29. In addition, AS WE GROW’s latest spring-summer collection will be formally launched with a fashion show at the new local on Saturday 7th May from 2PM to 2:30PM.

Designers Bosk and Sól will showcase a capsule collection of garments created using recycling methods developed by the team using all locally resourced waste textile. The project aims to lay the foundation for a recycling economy for waste textiles in Iceland and to fully recycle them. A closing party will be held Sunday 8th May from 3PM to 5PM at Listasafn Einars Jónssonar.

Recently graduated fashion designer from different backgrounds exhibit their work. With the exhibition they want to show the diversity that can be found in the Icelandic fashion scene and create conversation within the fashion design industry in Iceland. An opening party will be held Wednesday 4th may from 4PM to 6PM, on Friday 6th May from 6PM to 8:30PM there will be a pop op event and live music and a closing party will be held Sunday 8th May from 1PM to 5PM. The exhibition is lovated at Laugavegur 10.

At HönnunarMars 2021, Kormákur & Skjöldur will present new developments of production and product development in the “Icelandic Tweed” project. They will present new garments, accessories and new patterns of Tweed adding more flavour to the existing collection. The project has been very successful and its progress has been a great inspiration to them to introduce new possibilities in the processing of Icelandic wool in Tweed for various uses. A part of the exhibition takes place on Laugarvegur 53 where a special event will take place Saturday 7th May where music, hats and tweed will be presented in collaboration with Olafsson Gin.

Sigzon Hats is a new Icelandic design company specializing in handmade hats. Sigzon’s founder and designer, Sigurður Ernir Þórisson, was for many years the store manager of the clothing store Kormákur & Skjaldur and accidentally developed a great passion for hats and old-fashioned hat making. In recent years, Sigurður has trained in hat making in the old fashioned way, where hats are made entirely by hand from natural materials.Sigzon Hats will take part in Kormákur & Sköldur's pop-up event at Laugavegur 53, Saturday 7th May, where Sigzon Hats' exhibition will also take place.